The present invention relates to a tape measure that utilizes a flexible tape blade that is deployable and retractable relative to an associated housing for taking distance measurements.
Modern tape measures may be generally divided into two classes—power return tape measures and manually wound tape measures. Tape measures of the former class typically include a metallic tape blade of not more than forty feet in length and a spring-based mechanism that acts to retract the tape blade into the tape measure housing unless a tape lock is engaged. In contrast, tape measures of the latter class typically use flexible fabric, fiberglass, and/or plastic tapes of fifty feet or more in length and do not include a powered return mechanism. Instead, the manually wound tape measures rely on some form of manually operated crank mechanism to rewind the tape into the tape measure housing. These manually wound tape measures are typically used for measuring relatively long distances, such as complete foundation walls, vehicle accident scenes, property lines, etc.
When measuring with a tape measure of either type, the leading end portion of the tape is typically temporarily secured to a relevant point (e.g., the edge of a board, the corner of a building, or a survey stake) and the user deploys the tape by moving the housing away from that point to “pull” the tape from the housing. Typically, the tape measure is provided with a single type of hooking end fitting, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,679. Such an arrangement may be suitable when the measuring tape is going to be used for only one type of measurement situation. However, different measurement situations may present different tape holding problems. For example, there may not be a suitable edge for hooking onto, or the like. As such, the single permanent hook arrangement of the prior art has not proven completely satisfactory for all situations.
Thus, there remains a need for alternative designs of tape measures, advantageously ones that allow the tape leading end to be temporarily secured to a wide variety of features.